Spreckels theatre san diego

John Diedrich Spreckels (August 16, 1853-June 7, 1926), the son of American industrialist Claus Spreckels, founded a transportation and real estate empire in San Diego, California in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The oldest of eleven children (only four of whom survived to adulthood), Spreckels was born in Charleston, South Carolina, though the family soon moved to New York and then went on to San Francisco, California, where he was raised. The entrepreneur's many business ventures in the City of San Diego, California which included the Hotel del Coronado and the San Diego and Arizona Railway Company, both of which are credited with helping the City develop into a major commercial center.

Upon his death he was eulogized as "One of America's few great Empire Builders who invested millions to turn a struggling, bankrupt village into the beautiful and cosmopolitan city San Diego is today. "

The early years

Spreckels attended Oakland College and then in Hanover, Germany where he studied chemistry and mechanical engineering in the Polytechnic College until 1872. Spreckels Theatre San Diego, CA tickets. He returned to California and began working for his father, who had grown extremely wealthy in the sugar business. In 1876 he went to the Hawaiian Islands, where he worked in his father's sugar business. [1]

Beginnings as an entrepreneur

In 1880 he organized the J. D. Spreckels and Brothers, a company with two millions dollars capital, whose purpose was to establish a trade line between the United States and the Hawaiian Islands. The Spreckels opened Aug.